Some of the top names in bluegrass and country music have signed on for the 2005 edition of MerleFest, to be held April 28-May 1 at Wilkesboro, N.C. Among the first batch of confirmed artists are Loretta Lynn, the Del McCoury Band, Allison Moorer, Earl Scruggs, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Vassar Clements and Jerry Douglas.
Veteran Irish act the Chieftains will perform on two nights with guests from the 2002 album “Down the Old Plank Road,” including Doc Watson, Douglas, John Hiatt, McCoury, Moorer, Scruggs, Skaggs and Bela Fleck.
In addition, MerleFest will boast a reunion of Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys, whose ranks included Scruggs, Clements, McCoury, Peter Rowan, Bobby Hicks and Roland White, among others.
Rounding out this year’s lineup are Henry Butler, Rodney Crowell, BR549, Buddy Miller, Tony Rice Unit, Jim Lauderdale and Robert Lockwood Jr. Tickets for the event on go on sale Nov. 9.
Source billboard.com.
